As I mentioned both here on the blog, on Instagram and on Youtube, I’m hosting my first ever make a long, the #MarchIntoSpring22 make a long. The idea behind it is to explore how yarn knits up using different dye techniques. For details on the MAL, check out this blog post.
In my shop, I offered up the March Into Spring box, which are the colors I’ll be using all Spring. You can use whatever color you want!
This month, I’ll be working on the variegated colorway, Tulips. I’m actually going to work on vanilla socks for a few reasons. I do have plenty of pattern recommendations as well.
Background on the colorway:
This color was inspired by the Tulips color from the mood board, which had a lot of yellows, peaches and light oranges. To tie it in with the other colors, I added in some deep pinks and blues into the skein. I absolutely love how this color came out and cannot wait to see how it works up.
In general, I wanted the variegated colorway to be soft and not too color blocked. I love how this color came out because we do see quite a few colors, but it will knit up into a soft spring color and it won’t be too wild.
Things to Look Out for When Knitting with Variegated Yarn
When thinking about any project, it’s always good to think about what you want it to look like and what the project is about. Since variegated yarn is often full of various shades and color, a good way to showcase it is to use a simpler pattern (although, of course, there are no rules in hobbies or crafts, so you do you).
If you choose to do a patterned sock, keep in mind that you don’t want a busy pattern with expectations that something like lace work will show up. The changes in the colors can keep your eyes from seeing the patterns.
If you want to use a textured pattern, keeping to the same bullet above, my recommendation is to focus on simple knit and purl patterns.
Texture patterns will add to the variegation. What I love about patterned socks is that some are just so simple that they aren’t meant to be there for the pattern itself. They’re made to make the knitting more enjoyable or to just add a bit of fun. Definitely a process vs product thought there.
If a colorway has a lot of very different colors, the simpler the pattern the better.
If a colorway has a lot of colors, but is overall a single tone, you can play with the pattern a bit. That’s how Tulips was dyed, which makes it a great candidate for a textured pattern.
Vanilla socks are always a good option.
Recommendations on patterns:
Hermione’s everyday socks – simple knit/purl texture. You’ll still see the colorways, but it will add a new texture to it. Great for beginner knitters too!
Red robin socks – really fun pattern by Helen Stewart – adds a bit more, but not a design you need to ‘see’ so it shouldn’t be compete with the yarn.
Tin can knits – Rye Light Socks – has a garter panel that will be a bit of interest and again, not a distraction from the yarn.
Meant to be stash busting, but includes marling and I think it would be really fun to see these knit up with the contrast held with the variegated yarn,
What I’m doing with the April March Into Spring make a long.
Vanilla socks
Why? No real good reason other than I feel a tad behind and for me, vanilla socks can be knit in a week, if that. Otherwise, I would totally do any of the ones I listed of course 🙂
I really hope to see different things or even all vanilla socks and talk about it later this month. I may even do some swatches of other patterns if there’s time and everyone opts for vanilla. The focus of this knit a long is to talk about how different dyeing techniques knit up and we’ll talk more about this style later this month. I have a blog post up with these notes as well. I’ll plan to edit it with other patterns/ideas from all of you or do a follow up one. Chat below, on instagram or wherever and keep up with each other.
Hello! All of the March Into Spring boxes have shipped and I’m excited to announce a fun spring make-a-long. Here’s how it works.
The goal is to have fun knitting socks while looking at different yarn dyeing techniques. The three styles of yarn we will knit with is variegated, speckled and self-striping. Here’s what you can expect:
Each month at the beginning of the month, I will post a vlog on YouTube talking about what skein I’ll be using that month. I’ll give pattern recommendations, what I expect and just other fun yarnie stuff.
At the end of the month, we’ll recap that style and how it went! I’d love community support and your feedback as you work on the projects as well.
To qualify for entries for prizes, you’ll need to:
Post progress photos throughout the month and use #MarchIntoSpring22 (1 point)
Post a finished object photo (one per month by the last day of the month) and use #MarchIntoSpring22. In the caption of the post, mention something you learned, observed or thought about while working on the yarn (5 points)
Each finished object should be a different style yarn – variegated, speckled and self-striping.
If you use agirlandherwool yarn, you’ll earn double the points. If you use the March Into Spring yarn, you’ll earn triple the points.
In addition, each finished object post will earn you 25 reward points to my shop. If you finish all three pairs, I’ll make it a round 100 reward points, good for $10 off a future purchase.
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out.
The 2021 yarn clubs were a huge success at agirlandherwool and I can only thank all of you for that. I love playing with dyeing techniques, setting new challenges and generally having fun with yarn and color. It’s a cherry on top that you all love what you receive each month.
Last year, I offered a few different clubs. I ran the mystery yarn club for the entire year, the dye with me club for maybe half of the year and two quarters of the themed clubs. While we were all sad to see the dye with me club go, it’s all for the best and I’m glad we all enjoyed it while it lasted.
Looking forward into 2022, I wanted to keep some normalcy and also change things up a bit! So, here’s what you can expect to launch in 2022 (see sign up deadlines below). Things may change throughout the year, as they did last year, so make sure you’re tuned into my YouTube channel, as that is where all announcements are made. I do keep up with Instagram, but the photo format of it may mean you miss something if you quickly scroll by.
Quick Highlights of What is New for 2022! Sticker Club Colors of the Month Club
Mystery Yarn Club
Have no fear, the mystery yarn club is not going anywhere! The set up for this is exactly the same as last year and so if you have an active subscription and want to keep joining me, there’s nothing for you to do. A couple of quick notes and then I’ll lay out the general idea.
Photo Inspiration – In all prior shipments and for the January 2022 club, I used a photo as inspiration for the colorway. This is the only thing you know about the colorway before you receive it. I’m thinking of no longer using a photo (or at least announcing one) as nature photos can be limiting in color variety. If this is important to you, I’d love that feedback! Let me know! 3 month/6 month/12 month clubs – I will not be offering the pre-pay options for longer term subscriptions this year. There’s no real magic behind this one, it’s just less listings for me to maintain. Remember, with the ongoing subscription, you only pay for one month at a time and can cancel at any time with no future payment. Rewards! – If you missed it, I set up a new rewards program in my shop at agirlandherwool.com. I recommend checking out this page for more details. Keep in mind that if you use the mystery club colorways and post a finished object photo with the appropriate hashtag by the end of the month, you can earn extra reward points. All details are listed on the rewards page on my website.
October 2021 Mystery Yarn Club Colorway
General set up for the mystery yarn club Sign ups are ongoing all year round. I do not set maximum subscriptions, so anyone is free to sign up and cancel as they wish. All clubs are dyed to order based on the active subscriptions on renewal day (or yarn club day as it is affectionately known in my house). Please note that for example, sign ups for the February yarn club will be from December 21st – January 20th. The idea being that the club ships at the end of the previous month so you can use it during the month of the club. I think this can be confusing to some who sign up in January but missed out on the January club. Mystery yarn clubs renew on the 20th of each month. This means that if you have an active subscription on the 20th, you will be automatically charged and of course, then receive that month’s club. If you cancel before the 20th of the month, you will not make another payment. Once the orders renew, I begin the dyeing process. I ship the colorways before the end of the month with the hope that you receive it before the 1st of the month, but there’s no guarantee just based on how the days land. Mystery club colorways are exclusive for at least 3 months. The club colorways may or may not ever appear in the shop. I do not dye up extras, but if a mistake is made and I do have some leftover, it will be announced in the yarn club reveal vlog on YouTube. I usually post this around the 13th of the month (closest Tuesday or Friday, usually). Club options are: 1. Your choice of base. There are separate listings by base. The options are Sock, DK and BFL Sock. 2. Your choice in size skein for the mystery colorway. This varies by base, but you can see the size options in the listings. 3. If you want to add on a contrast skein. Generally, the contrast skein is a tonal color, but I’ve strayed from that before. 4. Size of the contrast skein. You can order any size skein for this as well. It can be a mini up to a large skein. There’s no rule that the contrast skein even needs to be the smaller skein. You could also make this your main color. 5. There’s also a mini skein set option! For this, you receive 5 related skeins based on the main colorway.
Towards the end of 2021, I changed how I ran my shop and now offer colors of the month instead of an extensive library. Quite honestly, this was exactly the change I needed and I love offering new colors each month.
I thought a fun club would be to offer a sampler set of the colors of the month. This is a great way to see the colors in person, but also a fun way to help earn rewards points (more on that in a bit). Here’s how this new club will work: What you receive – each shipment will come with a 20g mini of each of that month’s colors of the month. You will choose between the Sock and DK base. With this club in mind, I plan to offer up 5 colors of the month each month. For ongoing colors of the month (so for example, the Pigskin Party exclusive colorway), I will only send a sample of that once. Renewal date: This club will renew on the 1st of the month. For example, the February Colors of the Month Club will renew on February 1st. The yarn will be ready to ship, so they will all ship in the next day or two after that (depending on how the 1st falls). This means that if you have an active subscription on the 1st, your subscription will be charged and you’ll receive the sampler set for those colors of the month. If you cancel before the 1st of the month, you will not have a future payment. Sign ups will be available while inventory is available. Similar to how the dye with me clubs worked, I’ll be pre-dyeing up the sampler packs while I am also dyeing for the shop update. This means that if you have an active subscription, you will be guaranteed a set, but I may close out the club to new members if supplies run out. Again, this is different from the mystery yarn club, where I dye to order. Depending on how the days land, you may even receive the sampler set before the shop update, which means you can preview the colors! Signups will reopen on the 2nd of each month. Exclusivity – sampler sets will not be exclusive to the club. If I dyed up more sets than I need, I’ll post the extras with that month’s shop update (first Saturday of the month). However, I will price them favorably for the club subscriptions and there’s no guarantee any sets will be in the shop update. Rewards! – Definitely check out the rewards page. If you use a color of the month (doesn’t need to be finished) by the end of the month, you can also earn additional reward points. Since you’ll be receiving a few colors of the month in the sampler pack, this is a great way to earn. Check out the page for more details.
I received quite a few requests last year for a sticker club and I’ve finally decided to bring it out this year. Later in the year, I streamlined the sticker kits and this will help create a more efficient club. If you’re new to the stickers, I offer up sticker kits that you can use however you like to track projects and other fun crafty things. I recommend checking them out if you haven’t already. Each month, I rerelease that month’s two themes from last year and a new theme.
What you will receive – each month, you’ll receive a themed kit . The exact sheets you receive will be based on what you select when signing up for the club. I will be adding a bonus sheet to everyone’s order that will be exclusive to the club. By default, the theme that you receive will be the new theme released that month. However, I will allow you to change the theme if you do so within 24 hours of the renewal notice. If I don’t hear from you, you’ll receive the default theme. Renewal date: Will be on the 10th each month. For example, the February sticker kit club will renew on January 10th. This will allow time for it to arrive before the start of the month if you want to set up your journal early. I will have the sticker kits posted 1-2 weeks in the shop if you want to see the theme options prior to the renewal notice. Check out my FAQs page for a notebook recommendation.
As I’m releasing this late for the January month (ie, the club would have renewed today), make sure you grab your January kits soon! They will not be a part of the club unless you sign up the day this posts.
Important Dates: December 20th – Last day to sign up for the January mystery clubs. Starting on December 21st, clubs will begin with the February club (to renew on January 20th) and so on. January 1st– Last day to sign up for the January colors of the month club. Starting on January 2nd, clubs will begin with the February colors of the month club (to renew on Feb 1st). January 10th – Last day to sign up for the February sticker club. Starting on January 11th, clubs will begin with the March sticker club (to renew on February 10th).
I hope you’re all as excited about 2022 clubs as I am. I hope you find something that works for you. Let me know if you have any questions!
The January 2022 sticker kit release is live! There’s so much to show you and I’m excited to have these kits ready for all of you! Shop the kits here!
January Kits
In 2021, for each month, I released the sticker kits in two different themes. For this year, I plan to offer one new theme and re-release last year’s themes for that month. Lots of variety for you without being overwhelming.
The January kits are the same as they have been: – A Month sheet – perfect for tracking your monthly goals, WIPs, Finished Objects and whatever else you want to remember in the month – A Project Highlight Sheet – this one is good for at least two projects (depending on how you use it) so you can track what you want to remember about each project. Pair this with the Project Highlight Text sheet! – A Decorative sheet – this is great for those of you (like me) who aren’t able to decorate pages on your own to help make it fun. The sheet comes with a variety of strips to section off your pages and boxes to track fun details.
Each page is sold separately so you can pick and choose what works for you!
Here is the new theme and the re-release of last year’s January themes:
2022 Kits
In addition to the new January kits, I’m also releasing my 2022 theme and kits! These are great for tracking ongoing things such as finished objects, new stash, yarn stores you’ve visited or goals for the year.
The 2022 theme has the same pages as above, except that the month sheet is the ‘main sheet’ without a month header. Instead, you receive some extra scripts and check boxes.
There are also some additional sheets available in the 2022 theme:
2022 Full Year Sets
New this year are full year sets! This is great for those of you who love one theme throughout the whole year. You can also buy them upfront and have them all set for the year!
The full year sets come with: – 12 Main Sheets – one for each month. – 1 Month Header sheet – contains each month script in a matching color – 6 Project Highlight sheets – good for at least 12 projects. Feel free to add on more if you’re super productive! – 2 Project Highlight text sheet – good for at least 12 projects. – 3 Decorative sheets
Here are the themes for the full year sets:
Feel free to reach out if you want to see another theme as a full year set!
Kits are currently only available in the A5 size (5.5 in x 8 in). The 8.5×11 in size didn’t sell too well last year. I’m open to reintroducing them based on general interest, so let me know if you would like to see the stickers in larger sizes.
If you’re unsure about how to use these stickers, may sure you check out my YouTube channel! Feel free to reach out anytime with questions.
Also, take advantage of my Black Friday deals. You can see the sale details in a previous blog post.
Faerie Shadow is a colorway that has been a staple in the shop for a long time. It’s typically a winter color because I love the darker tones in it. This colorway is a gray base with tones of purple and a dark green. I love the combination!
Generally, I pair this colorway with Black Hole, a tonal charcoal gray/black. It’s a great combination for those who aren’t looking for anything too bright but to still have some color in it too.
Faerie Shadow is also a popular gradient set in the shop, which you’ll see more of later…
Two Color Projects Like most hand dyed skeins of yarn, Faerie Shadow is great for a vanilla sock. You’ll have a more neutral color with pops of purple and tones of green. The black speckles will also create come depth and well, shadows. It’s available as a sock set with Black Hole in the shop!
Because of the dark black, I would definitely consider this for a sweater. I know knitting with black yarn wouldn’t be ideal for everyone, but Black Hole is more of a dark gray. That being said, I think Faerie Shadow would make a lovely sweater with Black Hole as the contrast. There are so many great two color sweaters. I love everything that Jennifer Steingass designs. I knit an Altheda sweater and lived in it all last winter. I can’t wait to be able to wear it again.
I’ve had my eye on this sock pattern for a while and always try and think of what color combination I would use for it. I think it would be great with bright colors, but again, if that’s not your thing, Faerie Shadow is a great option! The pattern is Echoes by Liz Harris.
I honestly can just keep going and going. If you follow me, you know I love Brioche. I absolutely loved knitting the Winter’s Eave pattern and it’s my most worn shawl! In fact, I think this might need to be a shop sample. Just saying!
This would also work well with mosaic knitting patterns and there are endless choices across Ravelry or Etsy or wherever you choose to shop for patterns.
Gradient Patterns Speaking of mosaic patterns, what a better way to use one that with the gradient set. Ambah O’Brien’s Kentia Wrap would be a great option for the gradient set paired with Faerie Shadow. Ambah also has other designs with the same style for a hat or cowl. Matching sets, anyone?
I hope this helps you all find some inspiration to knit up projects!
Make sure you check out Faerie Shadow and Black Hole in the shop! Don’t forget that Faerie Shadow and Black Hole are November colors of the month. This means that along with being available as Ready to Ship items that I restock throughout the month, you can also use the custom order listings to order exactly the right amount of yarn you need. From minis to 300g skeins on a variety of bases, you never have to buy too much or too little yarn.
Comment below with your ideas for these colors or any pattern that comes to mind.
It’s that time of the year! Here are the details for the Black Friday sale at agirlandherwool!
But first… let me say how grateful I am for all of you. There wouldn’t be agirlandherwool without your support. Dyeing yarn and creating stickers is fun for me to do, but sharing it with the world is just quite literally, the best.
The sale details here are good for FRIDAY only – between 12AM and 11:59PM ET. Please be aware of timezones as it will only be active during these times. I will not be applying discounts retroactively.
This year’s Black Friday sale will be a “the more you spend, the more you save” deal!
Spend $50: receive 15% off Spend $100: receive 20% off Spend $150: receive 25% off Spend $200: receive 30% off
Percentage discounts will be off your entire order.
Please note that custom orders and yarn clubs are excluded from the sale. No other coupon codes will be eligible for orders over $50.
No coupon codes necessary, the discounts will apply automatically in your cart.
Always free US shipping for yarn purchases. Stickers ship for free in the US when combined with a yarn purchase.
While supplies last!
Please be mindful that processing times (ie, the amount of time it takes from when you place your order until it is in the carrier’s hands) may increase during sales events. There are many shipping delays right now. If you are concerned about receiving packages before the holidays, please contact me for expedited shipping before making your purchase. Even in this case, I make no guarantees about packages arriving by a certain date.
Bejeweled debuted at the festivals in September and officially joined the agirlandherwool family in October. It’s a variegated skein with a caramel color, purple, dusty pink and a light blue. The technique I used to dye this means it will cause some pooling. I absolutely love the tones in the color and how well it pairs with other colors, in particular, Before the Rain (a gray blue with gray speckles) or Denim (a tonal medium blue).
Two Color Projects Bejeweled would make a fabulous vanilla sock with the slight pooling and fun color variations. For a bit of contrast, check out Denim for the contrast color. I would keep the pattern minimal for this color if you aren’t in the mood for a vanilla sock.
Bejeweled and Before the Rain and similar in tones, which means I would not use it for colorwork. Instead, I think the Super Simple Summer Sweater by Joji Locatelli is a great option! Bejeweled will create some fun patterning in an otherwise plain stockinette sweater. Before the Rain will create a break in the colors without making the sweater be too much of a contrast.
I think something cool about the pairing of Bejeweled and Before the Rain is that if held together, the pooling of Bejeweled will be toned down. I’d love to see a hat or cowl worked up in this way. In particular, I love this Accessory Cowl by Safiyyah Talley and I think it would be fun to see the colors interact in stockinette and one in the lightly patterned section.
Three Color Projects The three of these colors complement each other so well. There’s enough color to create a special project, but it’s subdued enough for those, like me, who don’t want too many colors in one project.
I’m really drawn to the Hygge Cowl by Tif Neilan – tif handknits for similar reasons to the Accessory Cowl. It’s another pattern where you hold two yarns together. I love the highlight stripes of the darker color and that’s where Denim comes in. This will be a WARM accessory, which is great for the wardrobe!
To spice things up a little bit here, I also want to give some attention to the Bejeweled gradient set, which I love paired with these same two colors.
One pattern that IMMEDIATELY comes to mind to use the 5 skein version of the gradient set is the Time Trades Shawl by Caitlin Hunter. I knit this myself a few years ago and every time I look at it, I admire how pretty it is!
I hope this helps you all find some inspiration to knit up projects!
Make sure you check out Bejeweled, Before the Rain and Denim in the shop! Don’t forget that Bejeweled and Denim are October colors of the month. This means that along with being available as Ready to Ship items that I restock throughout the month, you can also use the custom order listings to order exactly the right amount of yarn you need. From minis to 300g skeins on a variety of bases, you never have to buy too much or too little yarn.
Comment below with your ideas for these colors or any pattern that comes to mind.
Each month, I offer a mystery yarn club and today I’m excited to reveal the April Clubs. If you are interested in joining the club, you can find them here.
In general, I use a photo as inspiration for the colorway and the rest is a surprise. I offer the clubs in a mystery skein (in any size skeins), with an optional contrast mini, or as a mini skein set. In April, I wanted to bring some bright cheerfulness to the club after the winter months had come to an end. I thought this photo was fun and would provide great inspiration. It did!
I went into this club with a couple of different options in mind. I thought about having a light brown base with sections of the bright colors, similar to how there are separate donuts. I also thought about just using all of the colors I saw and making it a fun, variegated skein. This is what I ended going with. In general, for colorways in my shop, I love blending colors vs using high contrast color blocks. I wanted there to be some speckles to represent the sprinkles, but I also want to make sure I didn’t cover up the bright colors and make it too uniform.
Here’s the result of the main colorway and the contrast skein:
I brought in a lot of the bright pink, deeper pink, purple bright blue, teal and speckled some of those sprinkles on top. I did keep the base a bit lighter, like the donuts themselves, but brought in lots of colors too. When I moved onto the contrast skein, I was torn between the donut color and one of the brighter colors. You can see I chose the brighter one and I have zero regrets about it. I felt like the photo was just so bright and cheery and not making both skeins have that feel would not have worked as well.
Here are some swatches with both colors:
For those of you who love the mini skein sets, I had a lot of fun going bright on these as well. As the standard approach for my mini skein sets, I brought in one element from the main skein into each mini and then tied them all together with some common themes. Here is the mini skein set:
Club colorways are unavailable in the shop for at least three months after the club shipments. Some may never come back. If you are interested in buying the colorways, the best chance is through the clubs. They renew each month on the 20th and there are a variety of options. You can be in an ongoing subscription that you can cancel anytime. If you choose the 3 month or 6 month club options, you do save money over being in the ongoing club for that duration.
Here’s a picture of the May clubs! A picture from my own collection:
If you ever have any questions, feel free to email me or use the contact me page here on my website.
Hello crafty world! Today, I’ll be talking all about my yarn stash. Yup – airing the yarn out, spring cleaning, joyful testing and all that stuff we just don’t talk about. I actually do not live with any yarn stash shame – Yarn Dyer! Hi! but I do understand that not everyone likes to talk about it and do what makes you happy.
For me, I’m such a functional person that I rarely buy or have something that doesn’t have a purpose. I don’t know if it ties in with my mathematical brain or just a separate personality trait. I have a hard time being emotional towards inanimate objects and rarely have sentimental feelings towards objects. Maybe because I’m not a parent. I feel like that kind of thing often revolves around people’s children and memories of them growing up. In any case, I love getting rid of things. What feels better than dropping things off at Goodwill or selling something for a bit of cash?
It’s the time of year when I would normally go through my closet and donate whatever clothes I hadn’t worn over the winter. I do the same thing in the fall with the summer clothes. I know I’m not alone. I’m not a big shopper but a refresh and seeing what’s left is always nice. I figure, why not do the same with my yarn? So, last weekend, I did my first annual (probably) airing of the yarn stash and setting the yarn I no longer want aside for a charitable donation.
For the most part, it was yarn leftovers and primarily worsted weight leftovers. For sock yarn scraps, I do still intend to work these up into various projects. I’ll be talking more about that over time, but for now, I’ll just say that if I don’t start making more progress on that soon, I will rethink my ability and willingness to do so.
My stash overtook 3 boxes that I have in my craft room. They aren’t large boxes, they are a small box that actually is meant to be used as a filing cabinet system if that puts it into perspective. It’s probably the size that fits legal paper one way and standard paper the other.
One bin had all fingering weight yarn in it. I didn’t end up donating much of this because I do hope to work up some projects. I’m actually wondering if anyone wants to do a charity make a long or even a charity focused livestream (or both!). Let me know in the comments or by messaging me on Instagram @agirlandherwool if you are interested!
Baby hat with leftover yarn
The rest of my yarn is a lot of older yarn that has just been sitting around for a while. I figure if I haven’t used it now, why should I think I’m going to start. Buying new yarn is just the best, isn’t it, and I’d rather just buy the perfect yarn for a project than make something work. I guess that leads into two thoughts. One, I don’t mean to sound like I just willy nilly buy yarn and then years later donate it all away. I’m actually quite the opposite. Instead, I rarely buy yarn and research exactly what I want for the project. That’s why I’m in the situation I’m in. The other thought is that the yarn I’m looking to part with is all leftovers. There are a few skeins that are untouched because I bought an extra skein to make sure I had enough. Nothing that I’m getting rid of did I buy, never use, and now I’m wanting to just part with it. I don’t why I felt the need to justify, but I think we all have lots of leftovers and that’s what I’m here focusing on.
My thoughts as I sorted was to try to be realistic. How much crafting time do I really have and when I have time to work, what am I drawn to? I only will be able to make so many charity items and I personally prefer to work with the fingering weight yarn I have. This means that even though I may not get to all of those skeins, I know for certain, I won’t get to the worsted weight skeins. So those went to the donation pile.
After going through everything, I had 3 empty bins. I decided I wanted one bin for my stash and the other two to be for my business. I started to fill up my one bin and decided once it was full, that was it. If I wanted more yarn, I need to finish up some that was in there. I think this will be a good policy and allow me to really decide what is worth having. I have quite a bit of yarn that I plan to donate, hopefully to a school, but otherwise to an organization that wants it. Again, it’s a lot of partial skeins so it’s not really worth trying to destash. Plus it’s been around for a while.
Here’s what I kept: 1. Sock yarn – I didn’t have much of it honestly and I like the 4 or 5 skeins I had. 2. Sock yarn leftovers – for charity items. I do plan to reassess this at the end of the summer. If I haven’t used them in the less busy time of the year, then it’s time to re-evaluate what I want to keep and what I want to donate. 3. Baby yarn – some really soft, good for kids yarn that I use for gifts. I was torn about this one, but it’s a good thing to have in stash. You really just never know when you’ll want to throw a baby hat in with a gift. 4. Rauma leftovers from my Altheda sweater – I LIVE in this sweater and I just wasn’t ready to part with the leftovers. I think this was one of those ‘what brings me joy’ moments where I thought “this brings me sooo much joy” and so it stayed. 5. My tiny fiber stash – it’s really not much.
Everything else is being donated or turned into charity items. I’m so happy with the results and that I’ve finally gotten rid of yarn I have known for a long time I won’t be using. I’d love to know if you do anything of the sort or what you generally do with leftovers. Do you use everything up to the bitter end? Throw away leftovers? Keep it for a just in case scenario?
It’ll be interesting to come back to this and see how much I’m using and how this continues over time. I’ll plan to keep you updated.
If you want to see anything “in person,” you can watch the vlog here:
It’s now April, which means we are one quarter of the way through the year. It also means Spring is coming, winter is ending and there’s a lot to look forward to. Before moving onto the months ahead, I’m spending some time reflecting backwards. In doing so, I’ll be setting myself up for what’s to come and how to stay on top of it.
I will be organizing this post to match my 2021 goals post from late last year (early this year?) and go through where I am at with my goals.
Knitting
Heading into 2021, I really had no goals set for knitting. I knew that my year would be different than most and why bother planning for it. The two goals I set for this year was to work on an advent pattern using my 2020 kit and work on my charity items.
2020 Advent kit – still not touched. I did start on it late last year, but I haven’t worked on it since. I am currently working on the Ambah MKAL and my goal is to pick up the advent pattern once this is done. Charity – have not worked on charity items, but it is on my list for April to re-organize and process. I’ll be doing a vlog and post here on it in May, so stay tuned for that!
Otherwise, my knitting has picked up a lot in 2021. A lot of that has to do with my business being a little slower right now and for a few other reasons that we will get to later in this post. Here’s what I’ve accomplished so far: 1. Slipstravaganza Shawl – finished this marathon of a project earlier this year. It was quite the project in all honesty and deserves to be considered project 1 – 500. It was so worth the effort and the timing for when I finished it was meant to be because I was able to take photos in the snow. 2. Golden Dusk Shawl – I also finished this other mystery knit a long project earlier this year. This was a very beloved project and one that was sad to finish. It came out so beautiful and I’m proud of both the yarn and the finished project. 3. Hannah’s Aurora Sweater – this was the first project of 2021 that was started and finished this year. My niece made a remark about being sad that she had outgrown a sweater I made for her and so she got a new one. She opened it up this past week and was very excited about it.
Current WIPS 1. Vanilla Oink Socks – Just about at the ribbing of sock 2 2. Moduloncho – Just started on this and can’t wait to dive in 3. Caladenia Shawl – Ambah O’Brien MKAL – At the end of clue 4 (of 5).
While this probably doesn’t sound like a lot, to me, this is way more knitting than I could have anticipated. I’m enjoying the process more and excited to keep on working on it.
Spinning
No, I haven’t spun yet this year, but I do plan on it happening. For quarter 2, I would like to start spinning for a total of 30 minutes per week, broken up however it works out.
Business
This is where a lot of my goals resided for this year. Here are my updates:
Vending – it seems very likely that this will happen this year. But, TBD
Collaborations – this is something that is always on my list and I’m working on. I’d like to work on this more than I have, but these things do take time.
Sample Knitters – this definitely has happened. I’ve been working with a lot of sample knitters so THANK YOU all for your excitement around this. I’ve already received some socks back from sample knitters that I can use to show how colorways knit up. I am also waiting on a few non-sock projects to come back to me that I’m excited to share with you all. I plan to continue setting up projects, but there are a few things I learned in this first round that I will be working on moving forward.
Rainbow Club – is live! You can sign up for the rainbow club now through April 10th. If you haven’t already signed up for the limited edition club, please do so!
Pattern based kits – I’ve started adding these to the shop and there are more coming soon. Pattern based kits include: Hakea Hat and Emelyn Mae Shawl kits. To make it a pattern based kit, the amount of yarn you receive for the project is just the right amount you need for it. It’s a more cost effective way to shop for yarn and make beautiful projects with hand dyed yarn. I will be adding more of these throughout the year.
Staying ahead – I feel like I’ve overall been doing a great job with this. I have had yarn for new colorways dyed up more than one month in advance. I’ve added in new routines to my business that have allowed me to stay ahead and work efficiently:
Day to day – I dye for 2 hours in the morning before work. At lunch, I soak the yarn and hang it up to dry. After work, I prep yarn for the next and package up any orders that are ready to go out. Doing this has allowed me to keep to my 3-5 day turnaround time, mostly at 4 days. Prepping the yarn the night before has been a game changer.
No dyeing on the weekends. I do not dye yarn on the weekends anymore. This has allowed me to have downtime (see all of the knitting I’ve been doing), keep up with chores and have more relaxed family time. It also keeps me on track during the week to make sure by the end of Friday, all (or most) of the current orders are out the door.
Personal dye day. Having one day a week dedicated to non-order dyeing has allowed me to keep adding new colors to the shop. I’ve also been able to stay ahead of dye with me vlogs (this week is an exception).
Computer work/recording on the weekends – Keeping up with recording my vlogs on Sunday morning means that everything is usually all good to go long before the air date. In the past, I’d be rushing around to have everything edited in time and I haven’t had to do that for a while. I also try to do other various computer work on the weekends because it is easy to pick up and put down as I need to (unlike dyeing).
Personal dye day – included this above.
Daily routine – Also covered above. I’m not yet commuting yet and so I haven’t had to worry about working around that.
YouTube
I mentioned it a bit above, but I have found myself in more of a routine with YouTube. Interestingly, this has caused me to want to change things up. Why? I record my vlogs on Sunday, which has allowed me to stick to my goal of 2 vlogs per week. However, my initial goal for the channel was to have it more vlog style and less sitting in front of the camera. Because of the routine, I take out my recording equipment on Sunday morning and then put it away and don’t record until the following week. Lately, I’ve been keeping my camera out a bit more to capture projects along the way and be less “here’s what happened” and more “here’s what’s happening.”
I have also started livestreaming! I’ve been doing about 1 per month and it’s been a lot of fun. I generally have my WIPs available to show you all but we generally just chat. I do need to schedule my next one so keep an eye out.
Blog
I did take a break from the blog for a bit. I thought maybe it just was something I was okay with not doing, but I’ve really thought about how watching YouTube is not accessible for everyone. I want to be able to share my channel and my business with anyone interested in hearing about it and so I’m back. I’ll be blogging 2x per week in conjunction with the vlogs over on YouTube.
Growth
One of my words for the year has been growth. There is a lot of growth described above in regards to all of the new offerings I have in my shop. My social media accounts are growing as well, which is all great. As my business grows, I also grow as a business owner. Adapting to that needs of my business has been working well for me with the new routines. I also have learned more about having sample knitters for the shop. It’s been a changing year for sure and I’m happy to grow as a businesswoman with it.
I’ve also grown with an entirely new product as well with my craft journal sticker kits. I have had these in my mind for probably almost a year at this point and finally was able to do something about it. I love these kits and have so much fun with my craft journal. I already love flipping through it and looking back on everything I’ve laid out so far.
Contentment
With a new year comes new expectations. It’s easy to assume that everything will stay with where it’s at and just keep becoming bigger and greater. Even though we are only 1 quarter of the way in, I’ve had my tests handed to me with the business. Things have slowed down quite a bit and rather rapidly. I think that’s probably the norm for this time of year, but as a newer business, it’s a trend I do not have the data for quite yet (actuary over here…). That being said, every day that I get to do this, I’m very grateful for it. I remind myself that a lot of the downtime I have is because I’ve been able to make my business more efficient and steady. I have the festivals to look forward to, monthly clubs that always seem to come back around and the popular dye with me vlogs to chat with you all about. It’s been a good year so far and I’ll keep working my behind off to keep that going.
Looking ahead…
I mentioned a few things I want to keep up with throughout this vlog, but I am just mostly excited for that starting fresh mentality. Spring is here and it’s time to rejuvenate and reset. I’m excited for plans that I have for the business but I constantly remind myself to keep working because time really does fly and fall sweater weather will be back around before we know it.
